Ingredients

Tart Dough
• 227g Butter (firm, cut into 1" cubes)
• 100g Sugar
• 1 Large Egg (50g), light beatened
• 5g Vanilla Extract)
• 345g All Purpose Flour
• 6g Salt
Vanilla Pastry Cream
• 260g Whole Milk
• 62g Sugar
• 50 g Egg Yolks (about 2 large yolks)
• 20g Corn Starch
• 12g Butter
• Quarter of a vanilla bean, scraped
Fruit preserves - about 15-20g per tart
Almond Frangipane
• 100g Softened Butter
• 100g Icing Sugar
• 100g Almond Flour
• 1 Large Egg (50g)
• 10g Corn Starch
Almond Cream
• 1 Recipe of Almond Frangipane, about 360g (above)
• 180g Vanilla Pastry Cream (above)
Fresh Berries or Fruit of your choice (about a 500g/ 1 lb)

Method

Tart Dough
1. Place butter in a mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment of your electrical mixer in medium speed, beat butter until it softens a little, beat in sugar until fluffy and pale in colour.
2. Mix in egg little by little, make sure it is well incorporated after each addition. Scrape bowl if needed. Mix in vanilla extract.
3. On low speed, add flour and mix until it forms a dough, be careful not to overmix.
4. Shape dough in to a disk and wrap in plastic, chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before using. This dough can be chilled overnight, or frozen for up to a month.
5. Before rolling, let dough sit out for about 10-15 minutes to soften. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 3-4mm thick, turning the dough after each roll to prevent sticking, flour as needed.
6. Measure the size of your tart pan/ring, cut out the shapes you need.
7. If the dough is too warm, place it back in the fridge to chill, otherwise you can start lining the pan/ring. When lining, be sure to get into the edges on the bottom, flush the dough right up to the top of the pan, trim off excess.
8. Chill lined pan/ring. Pierce the bottoms of the tart with a fork before baking, or blind bake them (yields nicer looking shells - optional). Bake at 325 F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Blind baking (see photos): Line chilled tart pan/rings with parchment, fill with beans or rice, up to the top. Bake until edges start to brown, take out and remove paper, beans and take out from the pans/rings, return to oven to bake to golden brown.
10. Remove shells from pans/ring, let cool until ready to use.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
11. Place milk, half of the sugar, and scraped vanilla beans and seeds in a small pan on medium heat.
12. Place egg yolks, half of the sugar, corn starch in a medium bowl, whisk until smooth and creamy.
13. When the milk has reached just under a boil, temper the egg yolks by pour in the hot milk little by little and mixing the yolk mixture at the same time, slowly raising its temperature.
14. Return mixture into the pot, on medium heat, continue cooking the custard using a spatula until it reaches a boil.
15. Take off the heat right away and strain the mixture into a clean bowl or container, stir in butter until incorporated. Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface, cool and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Almond Frangipane
16. In a bowl, mix butter and icing sugar.
17. Add egg and mix until incorporated, add almond flour and corn starch and mix until it forms a paste.
Almond Cream
18. Mix together 360g of almond frangipane and 180g vanilla pastry cream.
Assembly
19. Preheat oven to 325 F.
20. Place about 1 tablespoon of fruit preserves on the bottom of each tart shell.
21. Pipe prepared almond cream until shells are about 80% full.
22. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, the preserves and cream will expand a little, but it will sink once you take them out of the oven.
23. Let cool and decorate generously with berries and edible flowers - optional. Alternatively, dust with a little icing sugar before serving.